The Essential Guide to Requirements Management and Traceability
Chapters
- 1. Requirements Management
- Overview
- 1 What is Requirements Management?
- 2 Why do you need Requirements Management?
- 3 Four Fundamentals of Requirements Management
- 4 Adopting an Agile Approach to Requirements Management
- 5 Status Request Changes
- 6 Conquering the 5 Biggest Challenges of Requirements Management
- 7 Three Reasons You Need a Requirements Management Solution
- 2. Writing Requirements
- Overview
- 1 Functional requirements examples and templates
- 2 Identifying and Measuring Requirements Quality
- 3 How to write system requirement specification (SRS) documents
- 4 Adopting the EARS Notation to Improve Requirements Engineering
- 5 Jama Connect Advisor™
- 6 Frequently Asked Questions about the EARS Notation and Jama Connect Requirements Advisor
- 7 How to Write an Effective Product Requirements Document (PRD)
- 8 Functional vs. Non-Functional Requirements
- 9 What Are Non-Functional Requirements and How Do They Impact Product Development?
- 10 Characteristics of Effective Software Requirements and Software Requirements Specifications (SRS)
- 11 8 Do’s and Don’ts for Writing Requirements
- 3. Requirements Gathering and Management Processes
- Overview
- 1 Requirements Engineering
- 2 Requirements Analysis
- 3 A Guide to Requirements Elicitation for Product Teams
- 4 Requirements Gathering Techniques for Agile Product Teams
- 5 What is requirements gathering?
- 6 Defining and Implementing a Requirements Baseline
- 7 Managing Project Scope — Why It Matters and Best Practices
- 8 How Long Do Requirements Take?
- 4. Requirements Traceability
- Overview
- 1 What is Traceability?
- 2 Tracing Your Way to Success: The Crucial Role of Traceability in Modern Product and Systems Development
- 3 Change Impact Analysis (CIA): A Short Guide for Effective Implementation
- 4 What is Requirements Traceability and Why Does It Matter for Product Teams?
- 5 How to Create and Use a Requirements Traceability Matrix
- 6 Traceability Matrix 101: Why It’s Not the Ultimate Solution for Managing Requirements
- 7 Live Traceability vs. After-the-Fact Traceability
- 8 How to Overcome Organizational Barriers to Live Requirements Traceability
- 9 Requirements Traceability, What Are You Missing?
- 10 Four Best Practices for Requirements Traceability
- 11 Requirements Traceability: Links in the Chain
- 12 What Are the Benefits of End-to-End Traceability During Product Development?
- 5. Requirements Management Tools and Software
- 6. Requirements Validation and Verification
- 7. Meeting Regulatory Compliance and Industry Standards
- 8. Systems Engineering
- 9. Automotive Development
- 10. Medical Device & Life Sciences Development
- Overview
- 1 The Importance of Benefit-Risk Analysis in Medical Device Development
- 2 Software as a Medical Device: Revolutionizing Healthcare
- 3 What’s a Design History File, and How Are DHFs Used by Product Teams?
- 4 What is ISO 13485? Your Comprehensive Guide to Compliant Medical Device Manufacturing
- 5 Failure Modes, Effects, and Diagnostic Analysis (FMEDA) for Medical Devices: What You Need to Know
- 6 Embracing the Future of Healthcare: Exploring the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
- 11. Aerospace & Defense Development
- Glossary
The Importance of Benefit-Risk Analysis in Medical Device Development
Benefit-Risk Analysis and Compliance
Benefit-risk analysis is a crucial stage in the creation of medical devices. It entails evaluating the device’s possible benefits as well as drawbacks and deciding if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. This examination aids in ensuring that medical devices are reliable, safe, and capable of being used by patients without harm.
The global standard for risk management of medical devices is ISO 14971. It offers a framework for recognizing, assessing, and managing hazards related to medical devices. Manufacturers must follow the standard and conduct a benefit-risk analysis as part of the risk management procedure. To ensure that the level of risk connected with a medical device are acceptable and that the benefits outweigh the risks, this analysis is crucial.
To start a benefit-risk analysis, it is important to first determine the device’s intended use(s). The device’s intended use should be defined in detail and contain information on the patient group it is meant for, the medical problem it is intended to support, and the clinical environment in which it will be used.
RELATED ARTICLE: Validation Kit for Medical Device & Life Sciences
Evaluating Medical Device Safety and Efficacy
Finding the potential advantages of the device is the next step after defining its intended usage. Benefits could include better health outcomes, more comfortable patients, and lower healthcare expenses. These advantages should be measured and contrasted with any possible risks connected to using the technology.
A medical device’s dangers may include physical harm to the patient, adverse events, and device failure, according to the definition of harm within ISO 14971. The possibility and seriousness of each risk should be evaluated, and these risks should be identified and quantified.
Even after risks have been lowered as far as possible with risk controls, there may still be some unacceptable level of risks. This is why a benefit-risk analysis is so important in medical device development.
The following stage is to assess the benefit-risk balance after the potential advantages and risks have been determined. This entails weighing the device’s possible advantages and disadvantages to decide whether the benefits outweigh the risks.
If the benefits outweigh the risks, the device may be considered safe and effective for use in the intended patient population. However, if the risks outweigh the benefits, the device may not be considered safe or effective and may need to be redesigned or modified to reduce the risks, a medical device manufacturer might also make the decision not to launch the product to market.
Benefit-risk analysis must be optimized to guarantee the safety and efficacy of medical devices.
The Ongoing Role Benefit-Risk Analysis and Compliance with Regulatory Standards
The benefit-risk analysis should be an ongoing process throughout the development and life cycle of the device. As new information becomes available, the analysis should be updated to ensure that the benefits still outweigh the risks, as prescribed in various regulations and standards such as 14971:2019, and EU MDR/IVDR.
Regulatory standards for medical devices should also be considered in the benefit-risk analysis. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees medical device regulation in the US, requires manufacturers to prove their devices are safe and effective before they can be marketed or sold.
The FDA requires med device manufacturers to perform a benefit-risk analysis as part of the product development process. This analysis is used to determine whether the benefits of the device outweigh the risks and whether the device is safe and effective for use in the intended patient population.
Conducting a benefit-risk analysis is a critical step in the development of med devices. It involves identifying and evaluating potential benefits and risks and determining whether the benefits outweigh the risks. ISO 14971 provides a framework for performing a benefit-risk analysis as part of the risk management process.
Optimizing benefit-risk analysis is important for ensuring that medical devices are safe and effective, meet regulatory requirements, and are reimbursed by healthcare payers. A systematic approach that considers all relevant factors, including patient needs and preferences, and clinical outcomes.
Note: This article was drafted with the aid of AI. Additional content, edits for accuracy, and industry expertise by McKenzie Jonsson and Vincent Balgos.
In This Video, We Demonstrate Risk Management Capabilities in Jama Connect®
BENEFIT-RISK ANALYSIS is the ratio of the risk of an action to its potential benefits.
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